Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Tips for clothing your children on the cheap!

1. Goodwill

-Contact your local store to find out if they have a sale day. Our Goodwill has specially marked items that are $0.50 on Sundays and Mondays.

2. Consignment shops

-Check your phone book for local consignment shops. You can bring clothing your family no longer wears and get either store credit or cash back to buy more clothing! (Most stores will give you more if you bring your clothes in washed, ironed and on a hanger)

3. Garage Sales

-You have to get up at the crack of dawn for these but it is worth it! You can find gently used brand name clothing very inexpensively. Generally clothing is about $0.25 and up depending on the brand and whether it is in good shape. I try not to pay more than $1 for clothes at a garage sale.

4. Hand me downs

-I have 4 boys and they are very rough on clothes! But the things that haven't been ripped, torn or stained get passed down or put in storage for a younger brother. The stuff that the little one can't fit into anymore generally goes to Goodwill. Accept all hand me downs from others. You may find something in there that will work for you and if not, just pass it on to Goodwill!

5. Shop out of season

- When stores need to get rid of their merchandise in order to make room for more you can get great discounts. So shop for summer clothes in the fall when they are making room for winter. Shop for the winter clothes in the spring when the stores are getting ready for summer!

6. Check for sales every time you shop

- I went to Walmart a couple of weeks ago for groceries and checked the boys clothing aisles when I was done. I got about 13 shirts for $1 a piece for all of the boys! Everytime I go to Target I check their 75% off rack. When I go to the mall I check JCP and Childrens Place.

7. Take care of what you have now

- Take care of stains as soon as possible with your favorite stain fighter or even dishwashing liquid. Put a patch in the knees of their pants for extra reinforcement.

If you have any tips I should add please let me know by leaving me a comment!

1 comment:

Great Tips!! I do all of these things! Clothing 4 boys and 1 girl plus hubby and I gets expensive if I didn't do these things. :)

One of my local thrift stores(profits go to a local Christian school) just had a sale last week where all clothes were buy 1 get 2 free!! I got several things for my kids plus a few things for me all for under $15. If you want you can read about my trip here.

One other thing that I do is let grandparents buy my kids clothes. My mom loves to take my kids shopping for new clothes or she will get them an outfit for Christmas. I know getting clothes for Christmas or birthday just doesn't seem as good as a bright shiny toy. :)